Sending Apple Back to the Drawing Board in Georgetown

The dispute between Apple and the Old Georgetown Board over the design of the company's proposed building on Wisconsin Avenue ["Apple Store Design Hits a Glass Wall Again," Metro, Feb. 5] has me wondering: What is historic preservation really all about?

I had naively assumed the goal was to preserve old buildings of historic significance from the ravages of modernity. But the building Apple intends to raze is 24 years old. As I understand it, the board doesn't even concern itself with the interiors of these allegedly historic buildings.

What is clear to me now is that historic preservation is about creating a facade of history without particular regard for the history itself. This is dangerously close to a homeowners' association telling a homeowner that she cannot plant a particular kind of bush in front of her house. So is historic preservation really only about a few uptight architects trying to foist their superficial sense of architectural fashion on the rest of us?